Glimmerglass Intercepts Undersea Cable Traffic for Spy Agenciesby Pratap Chatterjee, Special to CorpWatchAugust 22nd, 2013Glimmerglass, a northern California company that sells optical fiber technology, offers government agencies a software product called “CyberSweep” to intercept signals on undersea cables. The company says their technology can analyze Gmail and Yahoo! Mail as well as social media like Facebook and Twitter to discover “actionable intelligence.”

ACLU Reveals FBI Hacking Contractorsby Pratap Chatterjee, Special to CorpWatchAugust 20th, 2013James Bimen Associates of Virginia and Harris Corporation of Florida have contracts with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to hack into computers and phones of surveillance targets, according to Chris Soghoian, principal technologist at American Civil Liberties Union's Speech, Privacy and Technology Project.

U.S. Maintains Aid for Contractors in Egypt, Despite Massacreby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogAugust 14th, 2013Egyptian security forces launched a massive crackdown on pro-democracy protestors killing around 300 people this morning. Despite near universal condemnation for the violence, the U.S. government has refused cut off the multi-billion dollar aid program that pays companies to provide support to the Egyptian government.

Family Sues G4S For Killing Angolan Deporteeby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogJuly 10th, 2013The family of Jimmy Mubenga, an Angolan refugee in the UK, has brought a civil lawsuit against G4S, the world’s largest private security company. Mubenga died on October 12, 2010 while being restrained by G4S guards who were hired to help deport him from the country.

Surveillance Contractor Bug In Ecuador Embassy Fails to Stop Wikileaksby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogJuly 3rd, 2013Bugging equipment from the Surveillance Group Limited, a British private detective agency, has been found in the Ecuadorean embassy in London where Julian Assange, editor of Wikileaks, has taken refuge. The spy devices have so far failed to foil the whistle blowing group's daring exploits to support Edward Snowden.

Edward Snowden and the National Security Industrial Complexby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch/IPS*June 17th, 2013Military contractor Booz Allen Hamilton is in the news over two of its former employees: Edward Snowden, the whistleblower, and James Clapper, U.S. intelligence czar. A review of Booz Allen's own high level conflicts of interest and shoddy work suggests that Congress should target the company, not the messenger.

Google & Facebook Discussed Secret Systems for U.S. to Spy on Usersby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogJune 8th, 2013Google and Facebook have discussed – and possibly built – special portals for the U.S. government to snoop on user data, according to revelations sparked by an investigative series of articles by Glenn Greenwald of the Guardian.

Mehadrin "Jaffa" Oranges May Come from Occupied Palestinian Landby Puck Lo, CorpWatch BlogApril 4th, 2013Jaffa oranges sold in European supermarkets labeled "Made in Israel" may have been grown and packaged in the occupied Palestinian West Bank, according to a report from the Boycott Divest Sanction (BDS) movement, an international coalition of Palestinian NGOs and activists.

Boeing Helps Kill Proposed Law to Regulate Dronesby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogMarch 30th, 2013Boeing, the aircraft manufacturing giant from Seattle, helped defeat a Republican proposal in Washington state that would have forced government agencies to get approval to buy unmanned aerial vehicles, popularly known as drones, and to obtain a warrant before using them to conduct surveillance on individuals.

Contractors Alleged to Abuse Alcohol, Drugs, Guns at Parties In Afghanistanby Puck Lo, CorpWatch BlogNovember 14th, 2012Jorge Scientific Corporation, a military contractor with nearly a billion dollars in U.S. government contracts, is being sued by former employees for “shocking misconduct” in Afghanistan. The charges include illegal and reckless use of firearms, abusing alcohol and drugs and billing the government for property destroyed during raucous parties.

TrapWire Leaks Shine Light on New Video Tracking Technologies
by Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogAugust 14th, 2012TrapWire, am intelligence contractor founded and run by former CIA officers, offers to track “suspicious” activities from surveillance video footage. The company has been spotlighted in a new Wikileaks release.

Blackwater Pays Millions To Settle Arms Smuggling Chargesby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogAugust 9th, 2012Blackwater has agreed to pay the U.S. government $7.5 million to settle 17 federal criminal charges that include supplying guns to the king of Jordan and offering private security and military training services to South Sudan without a license.

U.S. Federal Agencies Targeted Employees With Commercial Spy Softwareby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogJuly 23rd, 2012SpectorSoft spyware is the latest tool to be employed by some U.S. government officials to conduct surveillance on staff, The Florida company has been revealed to be selling “keylogger” software to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to track every digital move of certain employees.

United Nations, Olympics Accused of Using “Unaccountable” Private Securityby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogJuly 13th, 2012Two global institutions – the United Nations and the Olympic Games – face charges that they are using “unaccountable and out of control” private security contractors. One of the companies at the heart of both controversies is G4S, a private security company in the UK.

Spies in Africa’s Skies: New Contractors for the Pentagonby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogJune 18th, 2012Sierra Nevada Corporation from Sparks, Nevada, and R-4, Inc. from Eatontown, New Jersey - are two companies at the forefront of the covert war in Africa, where they operate small Swiss aircraft to spy on behalf of the U.S. Special Operations Command.

CIA "Rendition" Contractors Data Cache To Be Released by Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogMay 22nd, 2012Details of 6,500 "extraordinary rendition" flights conducted by CIA contractors to transport over 1,100 victims to and from prison sites around the world are to be released by NGOs Reprieve Access Info Europe working in collaboration with Kent University and Kingston University in the UK.

U.S. Courts to Try Contractors for Torture at Abu Ghraib
by Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogMay 17th, 2012Two U.S. companies can be prosecuted for the alleged role of their employees in torture at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, a U.S. federal court ruled last week. The companies are CACI of Arlington, Virginia, which provided the interrogators at the prison, and L-3/Titan of New York city, which provided translators at the same location.

Cashing in on Terrorismby Anna Feigenbaum, CorpWatch BlogApril 24th, 2012"Is Rioting a Form of Urban Terrorism?" The headline for a press release was a provocative introduction to the annual Counter Terror Expo in Olympia, London, which opens this week. (April 25 & 26) Eight thousand visitors are expected to descend on 400 exhibitions of counter-terrorism technologies and services.

Lockheed, General Dynamics Face UK Bank Boycott Over Cluster Bombsby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogApril 10th, 2012Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics of the U.S. face divestment from major UK banks, for manufacturing cluster bombs. The Guardian newspaper has exclusively reported that Aviva, the UK’s largest insurance company; Scottish Widows (part of the Lloyds Banking Group) and the Co-op Bank will sell shares in these companies, following a similar move by the Royal Bank of Scotland last year.